Contents

In late 2002, Anderson had just finished working on his novel Captain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius, set in a world where Jules Verne had drawn inspiration for his works from (fictional) real-life events, individuals, and technological developments. Anderson was just beginning to work on the book that would become The Martian War, a similar premise but with H.G. Wells. Anderson had done media tie-in work before (for franchises such as Star Wars, The X-Files, and StarCraft) and was a long-time fan of Alan Moore's work, including the original League comic. It was on the basis of that experience that Pocket Books approached him to write the novelization.[1]

Anderson has called the original movie script "very airy"[2] and noted that "some characters have been added or deleted, some character traits have been changed (unfortunately, in my opinion, because of political correctness)," while still praising the work of Robinson.[1] Anderson turned the 120-page script into the final 288-page book by expanding scenes deleted from the final movie, expanding characterization and background information, and "wherever possible and appropriate [going] back to Moore's original graphic novel for that material and [using] what I can."[2]

Although differing somewhat from the movie script, and drawing on the original comic, Anderson still noted that "And of course another drawback is that I have to stick to the script exactly as it is, even if I might have different ideas";[1] as such, the end result is much closer to the film than the comic or a third, independent story.

Several characters, including Sawyer and a British constable in the opening chapter, explicitly connect the Fantom with the Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera. After the Fantom's real identity is revealed, the Phantom is explained as being his model.

The Fantom's aide is identified as Lieutenant Dante.

In Nairobi, Nigel (in guise as Quatermain) remarks on how "the press" always misspells the name as Quartermain (a common mistake in the reviews and press for the movie), and also mentions Quatermain's discovery of King Solomon's Mines and encounter with Ayesha. Quatermain later compares Mina to Ayesha, and also mentions the Lost City of Gold and Umslopogaas.

In M's fortress, Nemo and Hyde's rescue of the captive families and fighting M's men is reminiscent of their work against Fu Manchu and Moriarty's strongholds in the comic.

In the flashback to Reichenbach Falls after M's reveal, dialog from the same scene in the comic is quoted verbatim. The scene itself is based on the events of the Sherlock Holmes story "The Final Problem".

In the end of the novel, Campion Bond arrives, and mentions the astronomer Ogilvy's discovery of flashes on Mars and theory that it is an approaching invasion fleet (a reference to The War of the Worlds, the end of the first comic, and the plot of the second).